Hay

To the Hay Festival mid morning - a good way to spend a grey day.

I went to two events. The first was childrens author (and much more besides) Michael Rosen and cartoonist Chris Liddell putting on a show with rapper MC Grammar, and two actors/comedians, using some of the “best bits of the bard” in MR and CR’s just published “Pocket Shakespeare”. Great fun. The extra is of the audience before the show, with Chris Riddell on stage producing cartoon after cartoon, and getting lots of laughs (this one features Alastair Campbell, who is at Hay).

The second, I’d booked one very left field (for me) event, Kirsty Laing interviewing Stacey Dooley and Emma Barnett about motherhood ( they’ve both written books). An audience predominantly female, fascinating.

I finished by having a walk around the town itself. So many bookshops - reputedly one for every 50 residents. A chap was selling Welsh Cakes from his front garden, made by his wife, I bought some (delicious). A really interesting chat about how the festival works for the residents. The arrival of tens of thousands of bibliophiles must be overwhelming, although some locals rent their homes out and go on holiday.

NB I got lucky with the image. Nearly every individual is doing something interesting.